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A first amendment blog for school administrators and attorneys.
New Federal Standards for Digital Accessibility of Public Elementary, Secondary, and Postsecondary School Websites, Apps, Course Content, and Social Media Posts
The Department of Justice recently published a new Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) rule governing the accessibility of websites and mobile apps of public entities. While the Department has interpreted the ADA to be applicable to websites since 1996, this is the first time it has issued technical standards to specify what public entities must do to make their web presence accessible to individuals with disabilities. Under the new rule, public entities, including public school districts, community colleges, and public universities, must meet Level AA of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (“WCAG”) Version 2.1.
As the Department highlighted in its Fact Sheet regarding the new rule, “State and local governments provide many of their services, programs, and activities through websites and mobile apps. When these websites and mobile apps are not accessible, they can create barriers for people with disabilities.” The Department further explained that technical standards for online accessibility are needed “to give greater clarity [to public entities] in exactly how to meet their ADA obligations and help ensure equal access to governmental services for individuals with disabilities.”
An accessible website or mobile app can be used by individuals with differing abilities and using a variety of assistive technologies. The WCAG standards address issues including:
- Navigation via keyboard and screen reader (visual focus indicator, logical reading order, headings, ability to move through menus and tables)
- Magnification without distortions
- Alternate text for graphics and images
- Links that are clearly marked and identified
- Adequate color contrast
- Captioning for videos and transcripts for audio content
While the ADA rule has broad application to public entities’ websites, mobile apps, and social media posts, the rule excludes the following:
- Archived web content
- Content posted by a third party without a contractual relationship with the public entity (public comments)
- Individualized documents that are password-protected
- Preexisting social media posts
The rule encompasses digital course content that may be published on a school’s website or internally-accessible webpage. Notably, the Department’s original proposal excluded online course materials, requiring accessibility only when a student with a disability (or parent of a K-12 student) needed a specific accommodation to access such materials. However, commenters expressed concern that making content accessible on a case-by-case basis would be inefficient and time-consuming, creating a burden for both schools and individuals with disabilities. The final rule is, therefore, broadly applicable to digital course content. The Department expects that the requirement will push vendors to create more accessible educational materials.
Public universities must meet the WCAG Version 2.1 Level AA accessibility standard by April 24, 2026. Public community colleges and school districts must meet the same deadline if the population of their attendance zone is greater than 50,000. Community colleges and school districts that serve an attendance zone of less than 50,000 people have an additional year, until April 26, 2027, to comply.
While two or three years is a considerable amount of time, the process of bringing a school’s website and mobile apps into compliance can also be significant. Schools should promptly begin to evaluate their websites and mobile apps and determine what changes may be needed to satisfy WCAG Version 2.1 Level AA. The work needed to comply with the accessibility standard may take time and involve multiple departments and decision-makers, including potentially:
- Identifying a person or team to lead the process, which will likely include the communications and technology departments.
- Considering input and feedback from the disability services department and from community members with disabilities.
- Reaching out to existing vendors that provide digital content or functionality (course catalogs, calendars, payment systems, curricular materials) to ensure their products meet the new accessibility requirements.
- Considering if hiring an outside vendor to help with compliance or redesign the website is needed.
- Planning to train staff and departments that create and post content on the new requirements.
If you have questions or want additional guidance on the new ADA rule, please reach out to your Thompson & Horton attorney.
